U.S. Pat. Nos. to Kegel 2,507,858 and 2,541,520 disclose a device for visually indicating contraction of sphincter muscles. The device includes a flexible compressible bulb element insertable into the sphincter muscle and a hand-held, dial-and-pointer type of pressure gauge connected to the bulb by a flexible tube. Upon contraction of the muscle around the compressible bulb, the air pressure in the bulb and the tube rises and is indicated by the pointer on the dial. The device is intended primarily to aid the user in learning to exercise and thereby strengthen or regenerate a weak muscle which may have been injured or otherwise rendered incapable of properly performing its normal physiological function. By observing the degree of movement of the pointer, the user is better able to gain control of the muscle and to progressively increase its strength and endurance over a period of time by regular exercise against resistance, thereby improving its tone and function.
The Kegel monitor has also been employed to measure the strength of contraction of the vaginal muscles, particularly the pubococcygeus whose function is both supportive and sphincteric in action. Ciba Clinical Symposia, Vol. 4, No. 2, February-March 1952, pages 35-51, describes the use of the monitor to assist women in learning to strengthen their vaginal muscles to overcome various lower pelvic musculature problems including some types of urinary stress incontinence and genital relaxation during child bearing and early menopausal years. The publication also reports studies showing that dysfunction of the pubococcygeus exists in many women who suffer a lack of vaginal feeling during intercourse and that in many of these cases sexual appreciation can be restored or increased by restoring the function of the pubococcygeus. The age of the woman in physiological therapy has little or no significance so long as she is mentally alert and capable of intelligent cooperation.
Another important application for the monitor is prophylatic. Exercise in the pre-partum and post-partum periods and also before and after plastic operations involving the sphincteric and supportive structure of the pelvic outlet are specific indications for its use.